Pisani still floats in free-agent limbo

Dearth of positions for surplus of players has veterans wondering if they'll even play

Edmonton Oilers winger Fernando Pisani was back in action against the Phoenix Coyotes in Edmonton on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010.

Photograph by: Larry Wong
, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON — At last look, there were close to 70 free-agent forwards looking for work with training camps opening in about five weeks.

One of those forwards, Craig Conroy, who is nine games from 1,000 NHL games, just signed a two-way contract with Calgary ($500,000 in the NHL and much less in the minors), which means he'll be playing in Abbotsford if he doesn't make the Flames. Another forward, Kirk Maltby, who has four Stanley Cup rings, has also been offered a two-way deal by the Detroit Red Wings, who have almost no room on their cap.

"Is Maltby going to take it?" asked a disbelieving former Edmonton Oilers winger Fernando Pisani, who finds himself in the same crowded boat on choppy seas along with people like Paul Kariya, two-time Cup winner Bill Guerin, Brendan Morrison, Lee Stempniak and Jay Pandolfo, who won three Cups in New Jersey.

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Pisani, who can't fathom so many players waiting for the phone to ring with camps approaching.

Pisani doesn't know if he would take a two-way offer from some team, if that's all he could get.

It beats the alternative: a simple training camp invite, where trying to make the team would be like trying to bail water out of a sinking boat with a shot glass. Darned near impossible. It's hard enough making a club when you've got a two-way NHL contract and everybody else is on a one-way.

Would he take an invitation to somebody's camp?

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't got to that point," he said.

"I'm not ready to retire."

"You been working out as if somebody is going to give you a call?" he was asked.

"No, I'm 250 pounds right now," kidded Pisani.

"Seriously, I feel really good. I've had a good summer of training."

That's what teams want to hear. He's played 134 games over the last three years, felled by his ulcerative colitis, broken leg and bad back, but he's only 33 years old, and he's only played 402 NHL games in all, so there's not a lot of miles on his body. He's a big body, an excellent penalty-killer and nobody has ever questioned his hockey savvy. He's a smart player.

But, after the Oilers chose to let him walk on July 1, he's like all the other free-agent forwards like teammates Mike Comrie and Ryan Potulny, also waiting for another team to offer a contract.

"If everybody else was signing, then I would have room for concern," said Pisani. "But there's no action at all, for anybody. I'm hearing so many teams saying they don't know what direction they want to go. That's the standard answer."

Teams are going younger with their bottom six forwards, also cheaper, in most cases. Many teams are up against the cap and can't add anybody else, or have their internal budget, which could be a long way from the cap ceiling of $59.4 million. But there are a handful of teams -- New York Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers, Colorado Avalanche -- well under the league-mandated cap floor of $44 million. Yet, they aren't signing free agents, either.

"I can't read minds ... I wish I could," said Pisani, who would be a veteran presence in several rooms, including the Oilers where they have so many kids. But, the Oilers haven't talked to him in months.

One thing's clear: the way the Oilers performed last year, finishing dead last, it's tough for any of the free agents. Completely free ones like Pisani, Comrie and Potulny or Group 2s like Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano, who haven't signed here yet.

"It kills everybody, going through a season like we had. It's tough to negotiate or have contract talks when you look at anybody's numbers other than Pens (Dustin Penner)," said Pisani.

ARSENE GETS THE BLUES

Dean Arsene, who played eight years in the minors before he finally got an NHL shot on the Edmonton Oilers blue-line last November, has signed a free-agent deal with the St. Louis Blues. He signed a one-year, two-way deal and will likely be a depth organizational player for the Blues, spending most of his time with the AHL farm club in Peoria. Arsene was 29 years old when he played his first NHL game in Atlanta. He wound up getting into 13 Oilers games.

TINORDI TO PLAY IN OHL

LONDON, Ont. / Chalk up another one for the Hunter brothers.

According to a report in Wednesday's London Free Press, hot prospect defenceman Jarred Tinordi will suit for Dale and Mark Hunter's London Knights this season.

Tinordi, a first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in June's NHL draft, was slated to attend -- and play hockey -- at the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

But he is walking away from U.S. college in favour of the Ontario Hockey League.

"He's the kind of player who will make a huge difference for us," coach Dale Hunter said. "He's big, mobile. He can skate and jump into the play. He's got great character."

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